When we think about change, we often conjure up images of responses to disruptive externally imposed alterations in the world as we know it.  Reactive responses to changing conditions are potentially disquieting.  Life’s major stressors involve changes – in employment, relationships, financial security and health.  So, when someone utters the old management saw – “There’ll be some changes around here,” heart rates rise and proton pumps kick into gear.

 

Why, then, would it be suggested that the word “change” become part of the MCG School of Medicine’s new motto – CHANGE, INNOVATE, EDUCATE?

 

Perhaps it is preferable to consider the action verb – to change - and not its passive noun form.  Because this is what we at MCG School of Medicine do – we proactively change lives – of students, patients, faculty and the community.  This changing occurs at an individual level as a result of our actions toward one another, intended and sometimes unintended.  They may take the form of coaching less experienced junior hires by weathered “old” hands.

 

In order to actually change something, whether the trajectory of a ball or the path of a career, energy is required.  To avoid causing a random Brownian motion or a purposeless change, that energy must be sufficient and it must be focused.  To effect purposeful and focused changes, change “agents” must often overcome inertia.  If a broader organizational plan is attendant, the collective effects of multiple change agent actions can culminate in a culture change that renders those involved the beneficiaries of a “1 + 1 = 3” organizational advancement.

 

But let’s reduce this equation to its lowest common denominator – you and me.  If we individually accept the inevitability of change in academic medicine (like we do when it comes to the weather), and if we jointly commit to a plan that we have designed to effect positive changes (or buy-in), then each individual act of change will add up to a change for the better – for someone or, in the case of MCG School of Medicine’s mission, the state of Georgia.  Standing pat, no matter how comfortable the perch, is not a strategy for success.  Change is a constant and coping with it is an essential life skill and a key to sustaining organizational success.

 

At MCG School of Medicine, we will meet with change (the noun) and master it with cooperative teamwork and a real commitment to changing peoples’ lives for the better - our patients (caring), our students (teaching), our faculty (mentoring) and the community (serving).

 

Sincerely,

D. Douglas Miller, M.D., C.M.
Dean, MCG School of Medicine